Classic Coleslaw

We call it German coleslaw

My Mom always made this for my Daddy because he didn’t like the other because he didn’t like mayo. Not knowing this had mayo in it lol. My Mom had forgot over the years how she had made it. So I’m so glad I came across your recipe. Can not wait to try it. Thank you so much. Karen

Almost spot on except I always use some finely diced celery and occasionally some cucumber and bell pepper. I don’t use carrots as they are a mess to shred and they stain. In addition I use a combination of mayo and sour cream and I add just a bit of sugar to offset the vinegar. Last of all my secret ingredient is celery seed.

I’ve spent decades trying to come up with the “ultimate” (for me) coleslaw recipe and darned if I didn’t end up with almost exactly what you have described. The only differences are that I add a little sugar and a little celery seed.

I’m glad to see you omitted any salt. Too many recipes call for this and, of course, you end up with wilted, mushy slaw.

I’m going to try your recipe to see if I like the proportions better than what I created.

BTW, I’d love to see a short video showing what you describe for slicing the slaw. I’ve done it so many different ways, but never feel I am getting the right results. It “eats fine,” but sometimes I have too many small bits, and other times I have strands that are too long. One of the big problems is dealing with the outer, green leaves. I don’t want to throw them away, but when I slice them, especially if I use the mandolin, their shape is quite different from the inner, harder portion.

Can’t agree with yellow mustard being Dijon with turmeric. Try Coleman’s English mustard. You will see the difference.

I added some chilli, celery salt, and lemon instead of vinegar.your slaw is amazing,

for a festive meal, classic coleslaw mixed with bay shrimp. Excellent side to a turkey dinner

Great, and other people’s recipes in the comments section look fab too. but you have the origin wrong, it is indeed from the Dutch but while you have “kool” right, for “cabbage”, in fact “sla” does NOT mean “salad”, it means “lettuce”! The original is “koolsalade” (it was simply shortened by the americans) and this is what you ask for in the Netherlands. Incidentally, while you can make coleslaw without mayo, and in fact Dutch coleslaw rarely has much if any mayo, you can’t make it without cabbage, as some people seem to. Raw cabbage is very healthy; in Germany they eat it almost daily. It has the same active ingredient as paracetamol, so if you want to avoid stress headaches, eat a portion of raw cabbage each day.
My version is red and green cabbage (or even shredded Brussel sprouts), red onion, spring onions, thinly sliced carrots, halved cherry tomatoes and thinly cut and sliced red and green pepper, and finely chopped parsley, salt and lots of black pepper; all in a lemon, vinegar, oil and herb dressing. Occasionally with grated cheese and a tiny dash of mayo for sandwiches.

Sam Bacani coolslaw filipino style.mayo,mustard,pineapple,japanese raddish (takuan) yellow.cabbage,carots,salt to taste,pepper,raisins,onion,and garlic powder.

I’m making the non-mayo version tonight using purple cabbage, but adding a little lime juice too ;)

Wow,

This is a great site. I was surfing the web this morning for a coleslaw recipe to use up the enormous cabbage in the fridge. I think I will make two different kinds! My mom who is from eastern Europe makes a slaw with vinegar, oil and sugar. She heats the dressing ingredients in a sauce pan with a couple of whole cloves of peeled garlic and pours it over the cabbage, red bell peppers, onions and carrots. She puts it in glass jars in the fridge after it cools. It keeps for a week or so.